The Shire of Duaringa was a

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

in the Capricornia region of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Duaringa Shire covered an area of 18,201 square kilometres and had a population of 6,744 according to the . On 15 March 2008 the shires of Duaringa,

Emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...

Bauhinia ''Bauhinia'' () is a large genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Cercidoideae and tribe Bauhinieae, in the large flowering plant family Fabaceae, with a pantropical distribution. The genus was named after the Bauhin brothers Gaspard and ...

and Peak Downs were amalgamated to form the

Central Highlands Region Central Highlands Region is a local government area in Queensland, Australia. In the , the Central Highlands Region had a population of 27,836 people. History '' Wadja'' (also known as ''Wadjigu'', ''Wadya'', ''Wadjainngo'', ''Mandalgu'', a ...

History

Banana Division was created on 11 November 1879 as one of 74 divisions around Queensland under the ''Divisional Boards Act 1879''. On 20 April 1881 part of Banana Division was separated to create Duaringa Division. On 4 January 1884, there was an adjustment of boundaries between Bauhinia Division's subdivisions Nos. 2 and 3 and the Duaringa Division. Soon after, on 20 March 1884, there was a further adjustment of boundaries between Bauhinia Division's subdivisions Nos. 1 and 3 and Duaringa Division. On 3 March 1892, part of subdivision 2 of the Broadsound Division was transferred to subdivision 3 of the Gogango Division, while another part of subdivision 2 of the Broadsound Division was transferred to the Duaringa Division. With the passage of the ''Local Authorities Act 1902'', Banana Division became Shire on Banana on 31 March 1903. On 15 March 2008 the Shires of Duaringa,

and Peak Downs were amalgamated to form the

Towns and localities

The Shire of Duaringa included the following settlements: Towns: *

Duaringa Duaringa is a rural town in the Central Highlands Region and a locality split between the Central Highlands Region and the Aboriginal Shire of Woorabinda in Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Duaringa had a population of 26 ...

Dingo The dingo (either included in the species ''Canis familiaris'', or considered one of the following independent taxa: ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage ...

* Blackwater * Bluff Township: *

Others

The

Aboriginal Shire of Woorabinda The Aboriginal Shire of Woorabinda is a local government area in Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the Aboriginal Shire of Woorabinda had a population of 1,019 people. Geography Most local government areas are a single contiguous area ...

is located in five separate locations inside the former Shire of Duaringa - three of them wholly surrounded by Duaringa, and two on the border with Fitzroy Shire.

Economy

Duaringa is a local centre for the region's farmers, who cultivate

sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...

and

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

, and graze

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

cattle.

Mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

is another major industry within the Shire, due to the vast

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

deposits around Blackwater.

Chairmen

* Archibald Francis Dutton (1881) (brother of Charles Boydell Dutton)Turner, Denise , Duaringa Shire : 100 years of local government, 1881-1981 , published in 1981 , published by Duaringa Shire Council , * Albert Andrew Wright (1882, 1883, 1884) (father of Phillip Wright) * John Hay Ross (1885, 1886, 1887, 1888) * Arthur Herbert MacDonald (1889, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893) * William Irving Bell (after whom Bell Park at Emu Park is named) (1892, 1895, 1898, 1907) *Edmund Dempsey (1894, 1896, 1897, 1901) *Somerled William MacDonald (1899, 1900) *Charles Ashmall Barnard (1902, 1903, 1912, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1921-1924, 1924-1927) *William Officer (1904, 1905, 1906, 1907) *Henry Greensill Barnard (1908, 1909) *Peter Diamond (1910, 1911, 1912, 1919) *Richard Stewart Walsh (1913, 1914, 1915) *Henry Richard Bauman (1920) *James Thomas Dunne (1927-1930) *Lorne Alexander MacKenzie (1930-1933) *Edward Adams (1933-1936,1936-1939, 1939-1943, 1943-1946) *Harold Park (1946-1949, 1949-1952, 1952-1955, 1955-1958) *William Graeme (Tom) Graham (1958-1961, 1961-1964) *Harold Joseph George Bauman (1964-1967, 1967-1970, 1970-1973) *William Kerrod Park OBE (1973-1976, 1976-1979, 1979-1982, 1982-1985, 1985-1988, 1988-1991, 1991-1994) *Tom Hall (1994-1997, 1997-2000, 2000–2004) *Gary Howard (2004-2008)Duaringa mayor sworn in today
''ABC News'', 7 April 2004. Retrieved 18 December 2016.

References

External links

University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Duaringa and Duaringa Shire
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duaringa Shire Former local government areas of Queensland 2008 disestablishments in Australia Populated places disestablished in 2008 Central Highlands Region